You fire up the latest and greatest fantasy CRPG (not MMORPG) and it's one where you can either directly or indirectly pick from different archetypes. You're planning on playing it through and you go for...

Pick an archetype that best fits your first choice

The light/medium armored melee:

4 (9.5%)

The light/medium armored ranged:

6 (14.3%)

The heavy armored melee:

9 (21.4%)

The cloth wearing "pure" spell caster:

10 (23.8%)

The melee-centric caster hybrid:

10 (23.8%)

The spell-centric caster hybrid:

3 (7.1%)

Total:

42

Even if you pick a type competent with ranges and melee, pick the combat style you tend towards. Define the separation between roles however you wish; I'd consider a plate wearing warrior with a few minor spells as heavy melee (as opposed to "battlemage") but go with your gut. I excluded MMORPGs because the social setting changes thing; I may play a healer with a group of people I like but I wouldn't want to play pure healer to a bunch of NPCs.

I've noticed that I always gravitate towards a heavy melee role the first play through, probably because it's safe and straight forward. I never enter a game like Dragon Age and set out of make a light melee rogue/scout type the first go-through, probably because I assume I'll be lolpwnt by goblins in my leather/light chain armor. I've never gravitated right away towards pure casters in any game. I guess I connect more with swinging something at someone's head than throwing mystical fire at them.

I tend towards heavy-armor-wearing meatshields, and voted as such, because I like to hit squishy things with sharp and/or heavy things. Spamming fireballs at a goblin's face while running backwards doesn't compare to getting right in the goblin's face and turning it into a sticky mess with a big stick.

Although, I'm also partial to light-armored sneaky bullocks because those classes generally have the utility skills that let me unlock checks and doors. I'm OCD in that I have to at least check every chest/door to make sure there isn't an Uber Sword of Doom in/behind it.

For me, I usually go for the all-out spellcaster. There's something about throwing a fireball the size of a minivan that appeals to me. I like huge graphical effects, big satisfying damage-bombs, and being able not only kill an enemy, but get the satisfaction of watching his smoldering corpse collapse into a pile of ashes.

Light to Medium armor, laying on a grassy knoll raining death and chaos from afar. I'd rather take a target out (or at least debilitate a group) from as far away as humanly (or whatever race ...) possible than put my neck on the chopping block by being up close and personal. As one of my teachers once said "Combatives (Hand-to-Hand Combat, in this case we'll narrow it down to all "Up Close And Personal" combat) is for people that can't shoot."

Of course, if I can get better armor then all the better. Should I get myself into a situation where someone is in my face, I'd like to survive a few hits between trigger pulls/arrow launches.

Edited, Nov 22nd 2011 4:32pm by lolgaxe

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George Carlin wrote:

I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

I'm picky; it depends on a few factors. I went with heavy armor melee, assuming ideal circumstances (I get to use a spear, or even better, spear + shield). If the game doesn't have spears, as is the case with Skyrim, I typically go with a light/medium armored ranged type.

There's some overlap and mix & match there, too, depending on the game. I'll tend toss a shield on any class I can if it'll let me, ditto for bows and such.

I've never been very into magic. I have absolutely no idea why. I feel like subconsciously I think it's for wusses.

Hybrid at heart, but with a preference leaning towards melee combat. I like casting spells, but I don't like the general "glass cannon" style of play where you have to kill stuff before it reaches you or you're dead. With a focus on melee combat, I use spells to harm at a distance or heal during close quarter combat.

I play a Battlemage-ish type in Skyrim, blasting people with fire and lightning while I run in for the finishing blow. I prefer tough armor, but looks > efficiency, which makes things more difficult than necessary (but **** I look good while getting my *** kicked). I'm not as powerful as a Mage, but I'm not as squishy either, and running out of mana isn't a concern as I'll just switch to my sword and roll some heads.

In World of Warcraft I mostly play hybrids as well, my favorites being the Druid and Shaman, both specialized towards melee (physical) combat with spell casting on the side. It gives a lot of survivability, which I enjoy for above mentioned reasons.

Did the same while playing Dragon Age 1 & 2. The Champion depicted in the Dragon Age 2 trailer is a classic Battlemage as I see it. Sadly, melee combat as a spell caster in Dragon Age 1 was kinda meh. It was still kinda meh in Dragon Age 2, but at least they made the animation more interesting.

Come to think of it, I also went the "Battlemage" road in Mass Effect, going with an Adept. Since there's no pure spell casting type in Mass Effect, I chose the one with the most cool "spells".

Jack of all trades, master of none is how I generally roll.

Edit: I just realized how much this sounds like some lame RP biography.

Edited, Nov 23rd 2011 12:42am by Mazra

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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.

Tradeskills. Smithing was my first skill to 100 in Skyrim for a reason. :D

Magic comes in at a distant second, with a heavy emphasis on control-type effects if they are available and not gimped, unless I can get them for free. =X But it is definitely the ranged weaponry of choice.

I always pick the closest to a Paladin as I can. My first paper and pencil D&D character was a Paladin, and every game I play I always roll a Paladin first if it's available. if not whatever comes closest will do.

Edited, Nov 22nd 2011 6:47pm by Kastigir

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People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome. ~River Tam

I like being able to use magic, but I also like being able to pull out a weapon and beat the crap out of things. Which is more or less how I'm playing Skyrim right now. I voted for "The melee-centric caster hybrid" because it's the closest fit to how I like to play. Actually FFXI's Dark Knight would almost be my ideal class if it had just a tinge more of a magic side.

Melee then mage then rogue. Stayed the same for all the Dragon Age games and Elder Scrolls too. Which reminds me I have not rolled my rogue yet in Skyrim. It's time to be evil and stabby!

I usually roll play their character types the same as well. My melee usually is a good guy, tough and might kill people who **** him off but saves the world in the end. My mages tend to be selfish and after power at the expense of all else but somehow make mostly good choices. My rogues do what ever the **** they want. More amoral than evil and saving the world or destroying it is more of a chaotic whim than a true character value.

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An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again.

When I was younger, I might have said spell casters, but for the last few years, I could care less about what my abilities are called or what the aesthetic framework is. I've become almost solely focused on function.

That, an ability that deals 50 fire damage and leaves a small DOT, and happens to be strong against ice monsters, is exactly the same to me whether it's framed as a spell caster shooting a fireball or a magic-less archer shooting a flaming arrow. I don't care how they say I'm doing it; I only care how it works.

This is why I struggle with choosing classes in a lot of RPGs, because they'll tell you if you're magic or melee, but they don't tell you muhc about how you function mechanically. I'm primarily looking for two things from a class.

1. Interesting mechanics. Bard from FFXI is a good example. It was a very useful class to have in any party, but it spent most of the time playing songs and not even targeting the mob. It was a class that did almost nothing directly, but made everyone else much better. It was also dependent on positioning of the entire party. I found all of this to be very interesting, and so it suited me well. Later when I played Rift, I decided to heal as a Warden. It was a HoT healer, but more importantly many of the healing abilities had overlapping durations and interrelated dependencies. The optimum single target healing rotation was a 5 step spell rotation, unlike the other who just had 1 primary heal they spammed over and over. Later on I played a very specialized role called a "senticar" that was far from anything the developers originally intended.

2. Reasonably effective. I like what I do to be hilarious. Summon flaming bears on top of people is fairly hilarious, but only if it is also reasonably effective. If "summon flaming bear meteors" does very little damage, has no detrimental status effect, and cost of lot of resources, then it's no longer all that amusing to me. I find amusing that a effective combat spell is essentially something ridiculous, but something ridiculous that is ineffective is just a show for when you're sitting in town.

I chose melee-centric caster hybrid. Generally though, it tends to be split between that and the heavy melee, with only slight edge on the hybrid. Only in single player/console games, however. In MMOs, my choices always tend towards full on casters first.

I could couldn't care less about what my abilities are called or what the aesthetic framework is.

FIFY

I tend to favor the mage. Something about shooting lightning out my fingers makes me giggle and it doesn't come with the Debby Downer feeling that I tend to get when I play a rogue. If I had to put it in order though it would probably be mage>rogue>warrior. The latter being something, while fun, is rather dull to play with for any length of time.

I love me some mages. I will always use them in any game I play. From being mage heavy in fire emblem to using all mages in Final Fantasy. When given the option to build my own character I usually go with a magic focus with a decent melee abilities to back it up. I don't like to be a pure mage and I most certainly hate being a glass cannon. I like to be well rounded in the sense that I can perform in most situations. Not so well rounded I become a jack of all trades master of none. However I don't want to be in situation where I say hmm I think I'll leave my main character behind or I wish I could because he gonna be useless this fight.

So I picked Spell-centric hybrid.

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If cookies were milk and milk was cookies. Would Oreo's still be america's favorite brand of milk?

For me, I usually go for the all-out spellcaster. There's something about throwing a fireball the size of a minivan that appeals to me. I like huge graphical effects, big satisfying damage-bombs, and being able not only kill an enemy, but get the satisfaction of watching his smoldering corpse collapse into a pile of ashes.

On the other hand, there is something amusing about playing a race designed to be a mage and tricking it out as a heavy armored melee. In XI, I run around with a great axe the size of my entire body on WAR.

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FFXI: Catwho on Bismarck: Retired December 2014

Thayos wrote:

I can't understand anyone who skips the cutscenes of a Final Fantasy game. That's like going to Texas and not getting barbecue.

The opposite is true as well. Back when I played FFXI, I had a friend who played a Galka WHM and had a blast with it. Of course he got **** about it from people in parties, but he never had a problem keeping people up.

I like to get up close & personal & either A) Punch or B) Stab a mob in the face.

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"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin

Always a rogue/thief at heart. I can see myself dabbling in magic if it allows me to be more sneaky or cunning. Ranged attacks are something I also see myself using, as they can be very stealthy. But to me it's always the ability to get right up behind your foe without him even noticing that was the most important. As such I choose light armored melee. I always find a way to MGS in games.. was always great going to kirin with no form of sneak, running back from MG with no sneak, killing detectors before they could spawn dolls, going to byakko with only one oil, etc.